Start-ups offer innovative databases to help parents seeking childcare

In the beginning, Andrea and Travis Schroeder’s hunt for child care in Grand Junction, Colo., was all too typical. They put out a call on Facebook. Crickets. They asked their neighbors. Shrugs. When the Schroeders finally found an open slot, it was at an unlicensed center where, after a few weeks, their adopted 18-month-old granddaughter, Madison, came home “spouting cusswords.” Their next provider was also unlicensed and would sometimes take Madison with her on other jobs — and not be home when the Schroeders came to pick her up.